Have you ever had an experience where you try a product out and then decide to keep it even though the product is…well crap, and so you find yourself settling because it’s the only thing available of its kind at the time? Well Texas Hold ‘Em is such a game and even though it will satisfy anyone’s need to play a few good hands of Texas Hold ‘Em poker, its presentation is boring and it’s multi-player mode is bug ridden – leaving you with a half-made game.
If you know the basics of the game you need to just skip the single player unless you’re the type that likes to unlock easily crafted achievements for your gamerscore. If you do decide to play in the single player mode you’ll come face to face with an incredibly incompetent AI that is easily bullied into folding like a lawn chair along with some rather nice flop, turn, and river cards that magically go in your favor more times than not. There could be some promise with the scenarios mode in which you play through a variety of situations like being at the final table with the least amount of chips or being the chip leader, but the AI completely ruins this as well. Still if you don’t happen to know how to play this great game, single player will teach you the very basics, preparing you for the real fun which is in Xbox Live Multiplayer!
As mentioned above the Multiplayer aspect of this game is very fun but is occasionally ruined by it’s bug infested software with one of the minor ones being that the four of diamonds card has five diamonds on it, and a major one that kicks everyone out of the game yet everyone wins the first place cash prize? There are four basic levels of play ranging from the Free Buy-In where everyone goes all in on the first hand, to the $500,000 Buy-In where I strongly suggest you use the nearest excretory facility before playing as it will take several hours before the game is close to being over. The pacing of the game is slowed down by timers that are not needed during some points in the game. There is also no limit as to how many times one can raise the stakes so that also contributes to the problem. The positions at the big stakes tables can sometimes take 10 minutes to fill depending on when you join. Altogether when the game plays smooth it makes for a fun and exciting experience.
